GAPETA Borneo

Natural Forest Clearance Continues on Deep Peat in

APRIL Supplier Concession

APRIL’s sustainability commitment questioned, High Conservation Value Forest cleared

Two heavy equipments operating in PT. Adindo Hutani Lestari (AHL) Sesayap Sector concession.

Photo taken by GAPETA Borneo at 3°33'21.7948"N, 117°4'25.8401"E on 19 April 2014.

Investigative Report by:

GAPETA Borneo, RPHK and WWF Indonesia-East Kalimantan

Published on 20 May 2014

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Introduction

Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Limited (APRIL) issued its “Sustainable Forest Management

Policy (SFMP)” on 28 January 2014 which commits that “APRIL sources fibre from non High Conservation

Value Forest (“HCVF”) areas that have been identified through independent HCV assessments, based on

Indonesian HCV toolkit and peer-reviewed by HCV Resource Network” 1.

PT. Adindo Hutani Lestari (AHL) in North Kalimantan province is one of the mixed tropical hardwood (MTH)

suppliers for APRIL’s pulp mill at Kerinci in Riau Province, Sumatra. An HCV assessment was conducted by a

consultant, Tropenbos Indonesia, and delivered in a public consultation at the local area on 26 November

2013 to obtain inputs from stakeholders. APRIL shared the final HCV assessment report with WWF-

Indonesia on 24 January 2014. The report was never peer-reviewed by HCV Resource Network.

Picture 1. Front cover of HCVF report assessment of the pulpwood concession of PT. Adindo Hutani Lestari.

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Investigation findings

Our field investigation between 17 and 25 April 2014 discovered AHL to be still clearing natural forest, even

a small High Conservation Value Forest identified by Tropenbos for protection, in its Sesayap Sector

concession of 63,700 hectares (Map 1 with photos).

Map 1. Investigators observed large area of exposed peat after clearance of HCVF identified for protection

by the Tropenbos HCV assessment (red boundary) (location 1) and three excavators cutting and collecting

MTH from the HCVF clearance (location 2). Photos taken by GAPETA Borneo on 19 April 2014.

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Investigators discovered at least 5 excavators at coordinates 3°33'21.7948"N, 117°4'25.8401"E (location 2

in Map 1) in the process of cutting, collecting, and transporting MTH from the HCVF clearance. The team

also discovered piles of freshly cut MTH in other areas. The team estimated that deep peat canals had been

constructed in the past 1 - 2 months, they were approximately 7 to 8 meters wide and more than 4 meters

deep.

The Annual Cutting Permit (RKT) issued in 2013 and 2014 for this Sesayap Sector concession area allowed

natural forest clearance of more than 3,000 ha. Landsat image analysis confirms that natural forest and

HCVF clearance continued after the issuance of APRIL’s SMFP on 28 January 2014 (Map 2 and 4).

Map 2. Deforestation cronology of PT. Adindo Hutani Lestari Sesayap Sector concession between 12

December 2013 and 5 May 2014. This RGE/APRIL supplier has cleared more than 3,000 hectares of natural

forest since 2013, including 290 hectares of HCVF identified by Tropenbos for protection (red boundary).

The peat depth in the area where AHL continued to clear natural forest is estimated to be more than 4

meters deep (Map 3, compare with the forest loss February-May 2014 in Map 4). Based on the Government

Regulation PP No. 26 Year 2008 on National Spatial Planning2, the area is protected and no forest clearance

is allowed. Deep peat conversion for plantation development causes huge greenhouse gas emissions

through drainage or fire and serious haze which continue to be the regional problem in South East Asia.

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Map 3. Peat depth at PT. Adindo Hutani Lestari–Sesayap Sector

(data source: Wetlands International, 20023).

History of failed HCVF protection by APRIL

Since 2005, APRIL has already been committed to protect HCVF4. However, WWF-Indonesia and other

NGOs have consistently criticized its implementation. Rainforest Alliance even failed APRIL’s interim FSC

Chain of Custody certificate in 2010 because APRIL did not stop clearance of natural forests for which no

professional HCVF assessments had been done or for which the APRIL’s HCVF delineation was disputed by

stakeholders5 6. The key issues have been:

1. APRIL’s HCV assessments of many concessions in Riau province were based on APRIL’s own flawed

definition of HCVF and without proper peer-review. The assessments consistently identified small

fraction of natural forest in concessions as HCVF for protection. For example, another HCV assessment

by Tropenbos conducted in Kampar Peninsula was criticized by the Forest Peoples Program as: “only a

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truncated and very preliminary HCV assessment process has been undertaken by Tropenbos, and the

conclusions of which have been disputed by the communities7”. Local NGO network Jikalahari and

Greenpeace also said: “this Tropenbos assessment serves to try and legitimize the ongoing conversion

of large amounts of forests in Kampar, while setting aside minimal patches of ‘HCV’8”.

2. Even those small HCVFs identified by APRIL commissioned assessments or HCVFs identified by

independent parties were later cleared by their suppliers9 10 11 12 13. The latest of such violation was

conducted by PT. Triomas FDI in Riau14.

The HCV assessment report of the AHL concession by Tropenbos seems to be similar to those assessments.

It was never properly peer-reviewed and its quality is questionable. A lot of the HCV areas delineated by

Tropenbos are allowed to be cleared and converted into plantations and, even the small “Peat HCVA” to be

protected ended up being cleared, even after the SFMP announcement (Map 4).

Is APRIL really committed to change? Or was the SFMP publication just a PR exercise?

Picture 2. Piles of MTH waiting for transport near the location 1 in Map 1.

Photo taken by GAPETA Borneo on 19 April 2014 at 3°33'50.06"N, 117°4'23.78"E.

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Map 4. Natural forest loss between February and May 2014 (pink area) compared with various HCV areas

identified by Tropenbos in the AHL Sesayap Sector. Natural forest in two HCV areas,

“Planting Area with Water Management” and “Peat”, was cleared since 2013,

even after the SFMP publication on 28 January 2014.

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Conclusions

RGE/APRIL supplier, PT. Adindo Hutani Lestari in North Kalimantan Province, has continued clearance of

natural forest on deep peat, even the small HCVF identified by a questionable HCV assessment, after APRIL

issued its SFMP on 28 January 2014. APRIL has thus failed to fulfill it’s own commitments:

“APRIL sources fibre from non High Conservation Value Forest (“HCVF”) areas that have been identified

through independent HCV assessments, based on Indonesian HCV toolkit and peer-reviewed by HCV

Resource Network” (Commitment I.a. of the SFMP)

“APRIL and its fibre suppliers protect and manage forested peatland areas identified as HCVF and HCS.”

(Commitment III.a.)

“APRIL engages with peat experts to implement best practice management to reduce and avoid

greenhouse gases (GHG) emission in peat land landscape.” (Commitment III.c.)

Recommendations

WWF Indonesia, GAPETA Borneo and RPHK urge RGE/APRIL to:

Immediately start a forest clearance moratorium and discontinue the operation of heavy equipments in

all APRIL suppliers’ concessions, even if APRIL had commissioned HCV assessments already, so the

proper HCV assessments could be conducted and peer-reviewed by the HCV Resources Network;

Issue a clearance moratorium on areas that are potential HCS.

Immediately discontinue the opening and conversion of peat land forest.

Immediately develop its detailed plan to implement its restoration and conversion 1:1 commitment,

including rehabilitation of the destroyed HCVF and peat areas, and execute it.

Immediately resolve social conflicts through FPIC mechanism by involving stakeholders.

Expand the policy to cover all companies associated with the RGE group and its founder and

shareholders, including PT. Toba Pulp Lestari.

1 http://www.aprilasia.com/news/APRIL%20SFM%20POLICY.pdf

http://www.aprilasia.com/news/Press%20release%20Sustainability%20Policy.pdf 2 http://www.bkprn.org/peraturan/the_file/PP_26_Tahun_2008.pdf

3 http://wetlands.or.id/PDF/buku/Atlas%20Sebaran%20Gambut%20Kalimantan.pdf

4 http://www.aprilasia.com/images/stories/hcvf.pdf

5 http://ran.org/indonesian-paper-giant-april%E2%80%99s-certification-status-suspended

6 http://awsassets.wwf.or.id/downloads/wwf_position_on_april__december_2010_.pdf

7 http://www.forestpeoples.org/sites/fpp/files/publication/2010/05/indonesiaaprilfpplettermay10eng.pdf

8 http://www.eyesontheforest.or.id/?page=news&action=view&id=279

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http://eyesontheforest.or.id/attach/EoF%20%28Jan%202007%29%20PT%20Bina%20Daya%20Bintara%20affiliated%20to%20APRIL

%20clearcuts%20peat%20forest%20in%20Libo%20block.pdf 10

http://www.eyesontheforest.or.id/attach/EoF_Report_July2010_pulp_industry_continues_clearance%20B.pdf 11

http://eyesontheforest.or.id/attach/EoF_Inv_Report_PT_CSS_APRIL_Aug2010_March2011.pdf 12

http://awsassets.wwf.or.id/downloads/wwf_position_on_april__december_2010_.pdf 13

Other reports published at http://eyesontheforest.or.id/ 14

http://www.eyesontheforest.or.id/attach/Laporan%20EoF%20%28April2014%29%20APRIL%20menebangi%20HCVF%20Kampar%2

0PT%20Triomas.pdf